Feed-bag.



Y Patented luly 3|, |900. T. A. HOWARD.

FEED BAG. A (Application med'July 1a, 189s.)

(No Model.)

attozwu ISO NITED STATES PATENT Orme THOMAS A. HOWARD, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR OF ONE THIRD TO WILLIAM O. DAVIS, OF SAME PLACE.

-FE'EDg-BAG;

srncrrrcArIoN forming par'. of'net'tefslratent No. 655,085, aerea July e1, 1900. Application tiled July/13, 1898. Serial No. 685,847. (No model.)

To all wtom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS A. HOWARD, a citizen of the United States, residing at York road and Oakland avenue, Station H, in the city of Baltimore, State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Feed-Bags for Horses, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to feed-bags for horses or other animals; and its primary object is to provide a feed-bag adapted to be attached to the head of the animal, with means for automatically supplying feed thereto.

Further objects of the invention are to provide improved means for attaching the bag to the harness, so that the bag may be used without unharnessing, and to so construct the feed-compartment of the device that waste of feed is avoided. l

The novel features of the invention will be fully described hereinafter and dened in the appended claims, in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a perspective view of the device in position upon a horses head, and Fig. 2 is a central vertical section of the same detached.

The device comprises a supply bag or hopper A and a feed-pouch B. The bag A, which is made of cloth, wire-gauze, or any suitable fabric, is in the form of a garment-sleeve having an enlarged upper portion ct and a contracted lower portion b. Both ends of the vsupply-bag are open, and the lower narrowed portion constitutes a conduit or passage-way which connects the upper supply compartment or hopper A with the feed-pouch B. The pouch B, which is also made of any suitable material, is preferably higher at its front side c than at its rear side to form a guard to prevent spilling of the feed by the movement of the horses head. The pouch B is open at its upper end, and its lower end is closed by a bottom d, which fits within the lower end of the pouch and is secured thereto by a band or ring e, of anymaterial, which is held in place by nailsor like-fastenings f, passing through the pouch and driven into the peripheral edge of the bottom. This bottom d is preferably made of wood, paper, or like sti material to keep the pouch distended,

Vand its upper surface g is preferably hollowed out or dislied to better support the feed and prevent it from accumulating around the edge of the bottom.

The upper end of the supply bag or hopper A is provided with oppositely-arranged tabs or straps h, secured at their lower ends to the bag and provided at their upper ends with snap-hooks or like fastenings t', adapted to engage opposite sides of the throat-latch or headstall of a bridle or halter, as shown in Fig. l.

The front edge of the feed-pouch B is provided with upwardly-extending suspendingstraps lo k, secured at their lower ends to the feed-pouch and provided at their upper ends with rings or loopsZ Z, to which are secured the ends of a cord m. The straps 7c 7c are preferably connected by a cross-strap n.

The top edge of the feed-bag is stilfened by a hoop or ring o, of any suitable material, to keep the upper end of the bag distended.

As clearly shown in Fig. l, the supply hopper or bag is suspended behindthe horses throat by the straps h, attached to the throatlatch or headstall, while the feed-pouch is suspended below the horses mouth by the cord m, which passes rearward over his head and is engaged by the checkrein-hook on the harness-saddle or other convenient part of the harness.

It will be obvious that the grain contained in the supply-hopper will feed by gravity into the feed-pouch and that the feed will be gradual and dependent upon the amount of grain consumed by the animal.

An important feature of the device and its suspending means is that when the horse raises his head the feed-pouch is lowered, and,

vice versa, 4 when the horses head is lowered the pouch is raised within easy reach of the animal. The construction and arrangement are such that the feed-pouch accommodates itself to all of the movements of the animals head, thus preventing spilling and waste of the feed.

Having thus described my inventiomjwliat ICG ,mouth and a pouch and intermediate integral contracted portion, the pouch having i'ts inner upper edge joined to the upper side of the lowerl end of the contracted portion and having inclined front side terminating at a` point higher than the side joining the c011- tracted portion, combined with 1a Abottom-tol the pouch and independent'attaching devicesy for the hopper and pouch, substantially as described. p p 2. As an improved article of manufacture a feed-bag for horses comprising a hopper; of exible material and having an enlarged: mouth with means for holding the same-opema pouch and an intermediate connecting portion integral with the hopper, the connecting por- 

